Cases / Mining · Myanmar · 2025
Myanmar rare earth mining districts lost 32,720 hectares of tree cover
Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
- The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
Satellite data reported by Mongabay show 32,720 hectares of tree cover lost in Myanmar's rare earth mining districts after the coup. Global Witness reported that China's imports from Myanmar more than doubled between 2021 and 2023.
What?
Satellite data reported by Mongabay show 32,720 hectares of tree cover lost in rare earth mining districts after the coup. Mongabay
Where?
Rare earth mining districts in Myanmar Mongabay
When?
Reported September 2025; the period of the loss is not stated Mongabay
Who?
Gained
- Chinese importers of Myanmar rare earths — Imports that rose from 19,500 tonnes in 2021 to 41,700 tonnes in 2023, per Global Witness Global Witness
Lost
- Tree cover in the affected districts — 32,720 hectares lost, per Mongabay's satellite data Mongabay
Harmed
None on recordWhy?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Rare earth mining, with clearing around mining sites and leach pools, per Mongabay and Global Witness Mongabay
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
Mongabay reported in September 2025 that satellite data showed 32,720 hectares of tree cover lost in rare earth mining districts after the coup.
Global Witness reported that China's imports from Myanmar rose from 19,500 tonnes in 2021 to 41,700 tonnes in 2023, more than twice China's own domestic output.
Global Witness also reported more than 2,700 leach pools at about 300 sites in 2022.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
No insurer decision on record.
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Record
- None on record The period over which the 32,720 hectares were lost, and how much of the loss is attributed to mining, are not stated in the sources reviewed.
- None on record Who holds the mining licences, and whether any penalty followed, is not stated in the sources reviewed.
- None on record The Global Witness import figures are drawn from customs data as reported; the underlying customs data is not cited in the sources reviewed.
- Unclear Whether the rise in imports has led to new clearing is not stated in the sources reviewed.
Did the harm stop?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Who paid?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers
Press and investigations
Communities and civil society
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